Knights silence Flames for 6th straight win

Field Level Media|published: Sun 29th December, 23:22 2024

Dec 29, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Vegas Golden Knights center Brett Howden (21) looks to shoot the puck against Calgary Flames defenseman Daniil Miromanov (62) and Calgary Flames goaltender Dan Vladar (80) in the second period of the game at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-Imagn Images

Ilya Samsonov turned aside 31 shots for his 14th career shutout and Tanner Pearson had a goal and an assist as the Vegas Golden Knights extended their season-best winning streak to six games with a 3-0 victory over the Calgary Flames on Sunday night in Las Vegas.

It was Samsonov's first shutout with the Golden Knights and marked his sixth win in his past seven starts. Brett Howden and Victor Olofsson also scored goals and Shea Theodore added two assists for Pacific Division-leading Vegas, which improved to an NHL-best 15-3-0 at home. The Golden Knights also moved into a tie with the Winnipeg Jets for the NHL lead in points with 53.

Dan Vladar stopped 34 of 36 shots for Calgary, which had a five-game point streak (3-0-2) come to an end. The Flames were playing the second game of a back-to-back that began 22 hours earlier with a 3-1 victory against the San Jose Sharks.

Vegas, which scored two short-handed goals in a 23-second span in the third period of a 6-3 comeback win over San Jose on Friday, came up big again on special teams on Sunday during a scoreless first period, killing off a five-on-three power play by the Flames.

Meanwhile, Vladar, who yielded five goals on 38 shots in a 5-0 loss to the Golden Knights on Oct. 28, turned aside the first 23 shots he faced, including a handful of close, grade-A chances.

Howden finally ended the scoreless duel with 4:01 left in the second period when he redirected Alex Pietrangelo's shot from the high slot over Vladar's right shoulder for his 15th goal of the season, moving him into a tie with the injured Ivan Barbashev for the team lead.

Olofsson made it 2-0 at the 14:41 mark of the third period with a power-play goal, one-timing a Theodore pass from the middle of the right circle into the top far corner of the net for his eighth goal of the campaign.

The Flames pulled Vladar for an extra attacker with about 2 1/2 minutes remaining, and Pearson sealed the win with an empty-netter with 6.7 seconds to go.

--Field Level Media

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